Indicating device for dictating machines



June 20, 1967 HE 7 r 3,327,314

INDICATING DEVICE FOR DICTATING MACHINES Filed March 22, 1965 I 82/ INVENTOR A zrZ Gash!) Zea/2km TTORNEYS United States Patent INDICATING DEVICE FOR DICTATING MACHINES Karl G. Zeuthen, Gentofte, Denmark, assignor to Zeuthen 81 Aagaard A/ S, Glostrup, Denmark Filed Mar. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 441,781 Claims priority, application Denmark, Dec. 22, 1961, 5,156/61 20' Claims. (Cl. 346-76) This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 243,504, filed Dec. 10, 1962 and now aban doned.

This invention relates to an indicating device for dietating machines comprising a burner head for thermographically indicating on an indicator strip the position of a recording head relative to a sound carrier.

An indicator of this type is known where the burner head engages the top strip of a pile of strips of so-called Thermofax-paper, i.e. paper which locally changes color when exposed to heat. Thus it will be understood that a real burning of the indicator material need not take place. Consequently, the expression burner head is used in a broad sense to denote a member which makes an indication by heat.

When recording on a sound carrier in the known device has been completed, the top indicator strip is torn off whereupon-the subjacent strip is ready for reception of indication as a recording is made on a fresh sound carrier.

In the known indicator device it is necessary to prevent a too vigorous heating involving the risk of the subjacent strips of the pile being exposed to heat when indication is made on the top strip. Moreover, it is a drawback that it is difficult to observe the indication because the burner head conceals part of the indicator strip. The former of these drawbacks may be overcome by using in a manner known per se a continuous indicator strip which, for example, is unwound from .a roll. An object of the present invention is to overcome the latter drawback and at the same time provide for the possibility of constructing the burner head without any regard to the dimensions in the direction of travel of the burner head.

According to the invention the object is attained by using a transparent guiding member which is arranged for being observed from one side and for guiding the indicator strip on the other side, the burner head being located behind the strip. The invention is based on the recognition that in thermo-graphical indication it is possible to apply heat to one side of the indicator strip and observe the indication from the opposite side of the strip. The arrangement according to the invention affords the advantage that the burner head does not obstruct the observation of the indicator strip, and that the shape of the burner head is without influence on the possibility of observation so that it may be constructed in the manner being cheapest from a manufacturing point of View. Moreover, the burner head will be located inside the dictating machine so that it is not so easily exposed to damage and does not otherwise complicate the appearance of the machine.

Further, the invention relates to a burner head for use in connection with the arrangement according to the invention.

The invention will be particularly described in the following with reference to the accompanying purely diagrammatical drawing, where FIGURE 1 shows a section through a burner head according to the invention in engagement with an indicator strip located in a transparent guiding member,

FIGURE 2 shows a view from behind of the burner head and guiding member shown in FIGURE 1,

3,3273 14 Patented June 20, 1967 FIGURE 3 shows a view from above of the burner head shown in FIGURE 1 with a partial section of the guiding member, and

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view of the mechanical arrangement for moving the burner head along the heat sensitive indicator strip.

In the drawing, 1 is a transparent guiding member for an indicator strip 2 which, for example, is unwound from a roll, not shown, as it is fed forward. A burner head 3 is in engagement with the indicator strip 2 and consists of two lengths of plate 4 and 5 of an insulating material. The plates are provided with a conductive layer in a manner similar to that known from the so-called printed circuits. The conductive layer on the upper side of the plate 4 is designated by 6, and the conductive layer on the lower plate 5 is designated by 7. The conductive layers on the two plate sides facing one another are designated by 8 and 9, respectively.

A burner wire 10 comprising a current supply lead 11 is electrically connected with the upper conductive layer 6. The burner wire extends beyond the edge of the insulated plate 4, and this portion 13 of the burner wire is in engagement with the indicator strip 2 with a view to bringing about thermo-graphical indication. The burner wire further extends in the form of a loop 15 in between the two plates 4 and 5 and about a hollow rivet 14 serving for assembling the two plates. The loop 15 is shown in dotted line in FIGURE 3. The burner wire further extends around the edge of the insulated plate 5 and is conductively connected with the conductive layer 7 on the underside of the plate 5. The portion 16 of the burner wire extending across the edge of the plate 5 is seen in FIGURE 1. The conductive layer 7 has a current supply lead 17. The conductive layer 9 on the upper side of the lower plate 5 has a current supply lead designated by 18.

When the current supply leads 11 and 18 are connected to a current source, current will flow through the portion 13 of the burner wire and an indication will be obtained as intimated at 19 in FIGURE 2, where the burner head is shown displaced to the left in relation to the indication 19. During operation such displacement is not necessary because the indicator strip can be observed through the transparent guiding member 1, i.e., from the right-hand side of FIGURE 1, so that the burner head does not obstruct the observation since it is located behind the indicator strip.

In a manner corresponding to that described above, an indication 20 may be obtained when the current supply leads 17 and 18 are connected with a current source.

It will be seen that the burner head has a considerable extension in the direction of feed but this is without any influence on the possibility of observing the indication on the strip. 7

Referring now to FIGURE 4, reference numeral 21 designates the mounting plate of the recorder. The disk or record 22 (shown in dash line) conventionally has a spiral guide groove (not shown) on one side and a magnetic recording layer on the other. A guide roller 23 engages the spiral guide groove of the record and a record drive roller (not shown) located opposite the guide roller is rotated at a constant speed. The record, thus clamped between the guide and drive rollers, is not only rotated about its center but also moved rectilinearly, that is, the center of the record is displaced along the line A-B, defined by points A and B. The recording head (not shown) thus records on a spiral path.

The central axle 24 for the record moves along line A-B in a slot 25 of the mounting plate 21. This axle is mounted on an arm 26, the movement of which is guided by a combination slot 27, in one end 26A of the arm 26, i and a fixed axle 28, the relative movement of 26A being indicated by the double headed arrow. The movement of arm 26 is further guided by an arm 29 that is pivotally mounted at one end at 30 to arm 26 and at the other end to a fixed axle 31. The possible movement of arm 29 is indicated by the double headed arrow. Further, an edge 32 of the plate 21 is contacted by a roller 33 mounted at the far left wing of the arm 26. The shape of the edge 32is determined by moving the central axis 24 along the straight line A-B and recording the line traced by the left wing of the arm 26. The combination of the roller 33 and edge 32 serves to balance the linkage arrangement and to prevent rocking.

A handle 34, pivotally mounted on a fixed axle 35, is connected to arm 26 by means of a link 36 that is pivotally connected to 34 at 37 and to 26 at 38. An arm 39, carrying at one end the burner head 3, is pivotally connected to 34 at 40 and biased counterclockwise by a spring 41, whereby the burner head engages the heat sensitive indicator strip 2. The pivoting of 34 about 35, occasioned by the linear movement of axle 24 between points A and B, causes arm 39 to move longitudinally as shown by the double headed arrow.

The linkage arrangement of FIGURE 4 thus ensures a linear relation between the position of the recording head on the spiral information path and the movement of the burner head along the indicator strip. It is pointed out parenthetically that the relative speed between the sound track and the recording head is constant, because, as already noted, the drive roller turns at a fixed r.p.m. while the center line of the record is displaced between points A and B: thus the speed of the center of the record is not constant.

Since all that is necessary is relative movement between the burner head and indicator strip, it will be realized that an appropriate mechanism can be used for moving the strip as a linear function of the position of the recording head on the spiral information path, while the burner head is held stationary;

' What is claimed is:

1. In a dictating machine, an indicating device comprising a transparent guide mounted in a casing of said dictating machine and viewable by the operator of said machine, a strip of heat sensitive material in contact with the inner surface of said guide and visible therethrough, and a heating element in contact with the opposite surface of said heat sensitive material for heating a limited zone of the material to produce a record thereon.

2. In a dictating machine, an indicating device comprising a transparent guide mounted in a casing of said dictating machine viewable by the operator of said machine, a strip of heat sensitive material in contact with the inner surface of said guide and visible therethrough, a heating element in contact with theopposite surface of said heat sensitive material for heating a limited zone of the material to produce a record thereon, and means for producing relative movement between the said strip and heating element.

3. A device as in claim 2, wherein said heating element comprises a pair of spaced wires in contact with said opposite surface and means for selectively passing a current through either of said wires.

4. In a dictating machine having a recording disk revolvable about a rectilinearly movable center and a recording head to record on the disk a spiral information path; an indicating means for visually showing the position of the recording head on the disk including a transparent guide mounted in the casing of said dictating machine and viewable by the operator of the machine, a strip of heat sensitive material in contact with the inner surface of said guide and visible therethrough and a heating element in contact with the opposite surface of said heat sensitive material for heating a limited Zone of the material to produce a record thereon; and means for causing relative movement between said strip and element as a linear function of the position of the recording head along the spiral path.

5. In a dictating machine having a recording disk revolvable about a rectilinearly movable center and a recording head to record on the disk a spiral information path; an indicating means for visually showing the position of the recording head on the disk including a transparent guide mounted in the casing of said dictating machine and viewable by the operator of the machine, a strip of heat sensitive material in contact with the inner surface of said guide and visible therethrough, said heat sensitive material being heated in a limited zone to produce a record thereon, and means for producing relative movement between the said strip and heating element; and means for causing relative movement between said strip and element as a linear function 'of the position of the recording head along the spiral path.

6. A device as in claim 5, wherein said heating element comprises a pair of spaced wires in contact with said opposite surface and means for selectively passing a current through either of said wires.

7. The combination of claim 4, wherein said means for causing relative movement includes mechanical linkage responsive to said rectilinear movement and causing said element to be moved along said strip.

8. The combination of claim 4, wherein said means for causing relative movement includes a first member having a pivot for the center of the record, said member being rectilinearly movable between two points, and mechanical means associated with said member for causing said element to be moved along said strip.

9. The combination of claim 8, wherein said mechanical means includes a link, a pivoting member, and carrier means for said element, respective ends of said link being pivotally mounted on said first member and said pivoting member and one end of said carrier means being pivotally mounted on said pivoting member.

10. The combination of claim 8, including means for causing saidfirst member to turn about said pivot when moving rectilinearly.

11. The combination of claim 10, wherein said means for causing said first member to turn about said pivot includes a second link pivotally connected at one end to said first member and pivoting at the other end around a fixed point, and a guide aperture provided in said first member and a fixed bearing member cooperating with said aperture.

12. The combination of claim 11, including an edge associated with said machine and means rotatably mounted on said first member for engaging and moving along said edge during movement of said first member.

13. The combination of claim 9, including means for causing said ,first member to turn about said pivot when moving rectilinearly.

14. The combination of claim 13, wherein said means for causing said first member to turn about said pivot includes a second link pivotally connected at one end to said first member and pivoting at the other end around a fixed point, and a guide aperture provided in said first member and a fixed bearing member cooperating with said aperture.

15. The combination of claim 14, including an edge associated with said machine and means rotatably mounted on said first member for engaging 'andmoving along said edge during movement of said first member.

16. The combination of claim 5, wherein said means for causing relative movement includes mechanical linkage responsive to said rectilinear movement and causing said element to be moved along said strip.

17. The combination of claim 6, wherein said means for causing relative movement includes mechanical linkage responsive to said rectilinear movement and causing said element to be moved along said strip.

18. The combination of claim 5, wherein said means for causing relative movement includes a first member having a pivot for the center of the record, said member being rectilinearly movable between two points, and mechanical means associated with said member for causing said element to be moved along said strip.

19. The combination of claim 6, wherein said means for causing relative movement includes a first member having a pivot for the center of the record, said member being rectilinearly movable between two points, and mechanical means associated with said member for causing said element to be moved along said strip.

20. The combination of claim 18, including means for causing said first member to turn about said pivot when moving rectilinearly.

8 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES German printed application, Montgomery et al.,

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. LEO SMILOW, Examiner.

15 I. W. HARTARY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A DICTATING MACHINE, AN INDICATING DEVICE COMPRISING A TRANSPARENT GUIDE MOUNTED IN A CASING OF SAID DICTATING MACHINE AND VIEWABLE BY THE OPERATOR OF SAID MACHINE, A STRIP OF HEAT SENSITIVE MATERIAL IN CONTACT WITH THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID GUIDE AND VISIBLE THERETHROUGH, AND A HEATING ELEMENT IN CONTACT WITH THE OPPOSITE SURFACE OF SAID HEAT SENSTIVE MATERIAL FOR HEATING A LIMITED ZONE OF THE MATERIAL TO PRODUCE A RECORD THEREON. 